Promise

Four Big Ideas at 4: Inversion, Teleology, Lindy Effect, Length of Days

Inversion

Carl Jacobi was a renowned 19th-century German mathematician who made profound contributions to the field of differential equations. One aspect that set Jacobi apart was his unique problem-solving approach. Jacobi believed that when one inverts known facts in a particular discipline, additional knowledge can be revealed that was previously unknown. He always encouraged his graduate students to invert the known confines of the field and examine what they found there.

Jacobi’s approach, known as “inversion,” involves thinking in a contrarian way and challenging assumptions. By asking questions that invert a problem, such as “What would happen if we did the opposite?” or “How can we make the problem worse?”, one can identify the things that are preventing them from achieving their goals and find new solutions and insights that they may have missed otherwise. Inversion is now considered an analytic strategy fundamental to scientific and mathematical thinking, and it can be applied to many other areas of life, such as business, personal relationships, and self-improvement.

Inversion is not just about thinking differently but also about challenging one’s assumptions. By questioning preconceived ideas and beliefs, one can identify the things that are preventing them from achieving their goals. Inversion can thus help people to break free from the constraints of conventional thinking and achieve success in many areas of life.

Teleology

Aristotle’s conceptualization of the universe was based on the idea of teleology, that is, everything had a purpose or a final end point – which is rest. Thus, a ball’s final resting place is the ground and when it is thrown up, it moves towards that final resting place on the floor. Thanks to Newton’s first law of motion, Aristotle’s idea no longer relevant in a scientific context. However, I think it still has a metaphorical extension that is still applicable in a psychological and spiritual sense. This metaphor suggests that the human soul has a natural tendency to strive towards a higher purpose or state of being, which can be seen as the final resting place of the human spirit.

However, negative emotions and actions can act as weights that draw the soul towards a state of unrest, which can be seen as the depths of hell. This metaphorical extension of Aristotle’s universe has implications for how we live our lives. It suggests that we should strive towards a higher purpose or state of being, and avoid negative emotions and actions that can weigh us down. By doing so, we can achieve a state of spiritual rest and fulfillment. The metaphor of the soul as a traveler on a journey towards a final resting place can help us understand the importance of living a purposeful and virtuous life.

Lindy Effect

In a paper titled, “Implications of the Copernican principle for our future prospects”, astrophysicist J. Richard Gott III describes how in 1969, he visited the Stonehenge (which was estimated to be over 3000 years old) and the Berlin Wall (8 years at the time). Gott then wondered which of the two structures will outlast the other. As you probably know, the Berlin Wall was destroyed in 1991, while Stonehenge continues to exist to this day. Gott then mathematically proposed an argument that the longer a thing exists, the more likely it will continue to exist. This has been popularly called the Lindy Effect. This principle also applies to other areas of life, such as literature and medicine. Older books, which have stood the test of time, often contain more wisdom and practical knowledge than newer books, which may be trendy but lack staying power. The same is true of medicine, where herbal remedies that have been used for centuries are often more effective than newer drugs, which may have side effects or other problems. Using the Lindy Effect as a guide, we can focus on systems and structures that have been vetted by time, rather than always chasing the latest fad or trend. This can help us to make better decisions and achieve more lasting success.

Length of Days

Proverbs 3:1-2 says, ‘My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.’ The text encourages us to keep God’s commandments, and promises that doing so will result in “length of days” and “long life.” While these two concepts may seem similar, there is a subtle difference between them.

“Long life” refers to growing to a full, old age before expiring. This is a concept that most people are familiar with. However, “length of days” refers to the ability to make the most of each day. This means being able to accomplish more in a day than others can in a month or a year.

This idea may not be intuitive to everyone, but it is a powerful concept that can transform one’s productivity. Time is a property that is bound to the physical realm, but God is spirit and transcends the physical. This implies that when you partner with God, you unlock the potential for greater productivity and efficiency. By tapping into God’s wisdom, guidance, and strength, we can achieve more than we ever could on our own.

Four Big Ideas at 4: Mesmerized, Ergodic Systems, Mere Exposure Effect, Sacrifice

Mesmerized

Franz Mesmer was an 18th century Viennese doctor and scientist who was a pioneer in animal magnetism – the idea that people have magnetic matter within them that can be harnessed by specialists for healing purposes. Mesmer’s work faced opposition in his hometown of Vienna and he was forced to move to Paris in 1788 where his theories were met with more enthusiasm.

In Paris, Mesmer adapted his approach to suit the love for theater and spectacle among the French. He added elements like incense and harp music to his treatments and started treating patients in groups, which allowed for the belief of one person to infect others and ultimately overcome any disbelief in his methods.

Despite being discredited in his day, Franz Mesmer’s legacy lives on today. He is remembered as the patron saint of charlatans, cult leaders, and snake oil salesmen. In fact, the word “mesmerize” was derived from his name and means to hold someone’s attention with a captivating and alluring display.

Ergodic Systems

Ergodicity is the idea that the outcome for a group aligns with the lifetime outcome of each individual within the group. A simple coin toss is an example of an ergodic system – the results will always tend towards 50% heads and 50% tails, regardless of whether one person flips the coin 100 times, or 100 people flip the coin once. However, when it comes to decision making, it’s human nature to assume that everything is ergodic. But in reality, most human systems are non-ergodic. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, that the average number of ICU beds in a country were above some threshold did not mean that all hospitals could handle a local outbreak. In many cases, local health professionals were overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases because public health administrators had assumed ergodicity where it did not exist.

Mere Exposure Effect

In his 1968 paper, “Attitudinal effects of mere exposure.”, Robert Zajonc asked participants to rate their liking for various things such as geometric shapes, Japanese pictograms, Chinese characters, and nonsense words in a made-up language. To his surprise, he found that the mere frequency of exposure to these items, even if it was only for a fraction of a second, greatly influenced people’s liking for them. This phenomenon, known as the mere exposure effect, has been exploited by the advertising industry to shape public desire and drive consumer behavior.

Sacrifice

2 Kings 3 tells the story of Mesha, king of Moab who had rebelled against the king of Israel, ceasing his yearly tributes. In response, the King of Israel solicited help from the king of Judah and the king of Edom to reclaim Moab. But as the battle raged on, King Mesha realizes he is losing. In a desperate move, he sacrifices his own crown prince to his idol, Chemosh. What happens next is remarkable. 2 Kings 3:27 says that there was a great indignation against Israel and the allied armies withdrew their troops! Why was there an indignation against Israel even though it had been Mesha who offered his son as a sacrifice? It appears that the dynamics of the spiritual realm are sensitive to sacrifice. When we choose to give up something we hold dear, whether it’s certainty or immediate gratification, we open up opportunities for the spiritual realm to influence human activity. The question now is what will you sacrifice?

Four Big Ideas at 4: The Dreyfus Affair, The Narcissism of Small Differences, Descartes’ Error, A Tale of Two Brothers

The Dreyfus Affair

In 1894, a French military officer, Alfred Dreyfus, was wrongly accused of passing secrets to the Imperial German Army. With Anti-Semitic tendencies rampant in French society, Dreyfus’ Jewish heritage made him an easy target.

When Dreyfus stood before the jury, his calm but colorless tone was interpreted as guilt. Despite his innocence, Dreyfus was condemned to life imprisonment and publicly dishonorably discharged from the military. Even during the discharge ceremony, onlookers interpreted Dreyfus’ stoic demeanor as further proof of his guilt.

The truth soon emerged and Dreyfus’ innocence was proven, but not until after he spent three grueling years in exile. The lesson of the Dreyfus Affair? People will take the slightest emotional cues – tone of voice, for instance – and use that information jump to conclusions that support their preconceived notions.

The Narcissism of Small Differences

In a society where everyone has equal rights, such as in a democracy or on the internet, the gap between a person and the model(s) they want to imitate can shrink, leading to an increase in the potential for rivalry.

This is because in a world where everyone is equal, the smallest differences between individuals become magnified. People’s self-identity becomes shaped by the differences they have with others and hatred towards the “other” becomes a crucial component in defining themselves. People become alike in their desire not to be alike.

This phenomenon is even more relevant in contemporary times as traditional social structures that once imposed physical or metaphysical distance, such as the family, church, and monarchies, are no longer present to prevent or channel conflicts. The result is a world where the smallest differences between individuals can escalate into intense rivalries and potentially violent confrontations.

Descartes’ Error

In his book, Descartes’ Error, neuroscientist Antonio Damasio explored the role of emotions in the decision-making process. In a study comprising of patients with damage to their ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), Damasio found out that even though these individuals were emotionally unexpressive when presented with either pictures with gruesome images or those with joyous one. Despite having normal IQ scores, these individuals struggled to make even basic decisions in their personal and professional lives.

Through his research, Damasio discovered that the vmPFC integrates emotions into rational deliberations, highlighting the fact that emotions are not just disturbances that prevent us from living a full life, but are actually essential for rational decision-making. Without emotions, decisions would be based solely on weighing the pros and cons of the physical attributes of different options, which can easily become overwhelming.

A Tale of Two Brothers

In Luke 15:11-32, Jesus tells the parable of the Prodigal Son. The traditional interpretation is that there are two types of people – the wild and the responsible. But there’s so much more to this story than just that. Jesus was actually uncovering a fundamental truth about human nature in this parable.

We all have a part of us that’s impulsive, short-sighted, and driven by instant gratification – just like the Prodigal Son. But we all also have the personality of the Older Brother, who is calculated, rational, and judgmental. Both sides of human nature are united by a common thread of pathological self-centeredness.

But, there’s one constant in this story that shines through – the love of God. It’s this love that remains ever-present, no matter how far we stray or how much we judge ourselves and others.

Some Notes from Greg McKeown’s “Essentialism” (2014)

“Essentialism isn’t about how to get more things done; it’s about how to get the right things done. It doesn’t mean just doing less for the sake of less either. It’s about making the wisest possible investment of your time and energy in order to operate at our highest point of contribution by doing only what it essential”

The way of the Essentialist means living by design, not by default. Instead of making choices reactively, the Essentialist deliberately separates the ‘important’ few from the ‘less important’ many. The Essentialist is an expert who has learned how to eliminate the non-essential weights in his/her life and ruthlessly focuses only on the things that count.

Many of the things you spend your energy doing in a day are not important or beneficial to any person. And then we wonder why we aren’t leading a life of impact. Impact is impossible without focused effort and focused effort is impossible when you give everything in your life equal importance.

Keep the main thing, the main thing and let every other thing take the backseat.

Assumptions Every Essentialist Must Overcome

“There are three deeply entrenched assumptions that we must conquer to live the way of the Essentialist: “I have to”, “It’s all important”, and “I can do both”

To become an Essentialist that lives a life of impact, you need to mentally take note of areas of your life where you’re allowing these assumptions to rob your life of impact.

Remember, everything is not important.

You don’t have to do everything. You still have the power to choose.

You don’t need to buy the lie that everything is important, because everything is not! When all is said and done, only a few things matter. Your job is to find what those things are and then ruthlessly devote your attention to them.

You might pride yourself as being a jack of all trades, or a polymath (I have an interdisciplinary bent too), but there’s joy and freedom in realizing that you can do anything, but not everything.

The moment you’re able to take note of the three faulty assumptions milking your energy from you, you’d be among an elite group of people who are headed closer to a life of impact.

You Always Have Choice

“The ability to choose can’t be taken away, or given away – can be forgotten“

If you want to be an Essentialist, you need to have a heightened consciousness of your ability to choose in any situation you find yourself.

This is what Viktor Frankl was one of the survivors of the cruelties of the Nazi concentration camps during World War 2. The Nazi Germans tortured and subjected him and other prisoners to innumerable indignities. Many people perished in the concentration camps and many of those that didn’t were scarred for life.

Frankl was one of the few that ended up thriving after being liberated from the camps at the end of the war. He was able to do this because of good understanding of one thing his tormentors couldn’t take away. Frankl later called this “The last of the human freedoms”. He realized that regardless of what he was going through at any given moment, he could choose how he was going to be affected by the situation. He realized that at any given time, the power to choose was always there. Frankl didn’t forget this and it affected the quality of his life, during and after the war.

If you forget your ability to choose, you’re going to end up relinquishing your power to your circumstances and environment. You’d eventually come to the point where you feel totally helpless to your situation and you’re merely going through life passively.

If you want to be an Essentialist, don’t you ever forget your power to choose in any given situation. The pressure of the moment might seem like you’re going to be choked if you don’t react immediately. But if you remind yourself again and again that you always have the power to choose, you’re going to improve your life exponentially.

“The ability to choose can’t be taken away, or given away – it can only be forgotten”

There’s Power in Discernment

Greg McKeown shared this quote by Ronald Koch:

“Most of what exists in the universe – our actions, and all other forces, resources and ideas- has little value and yields little results; on the other hand, a few things work fantastically well and have tremendous impact”

The Essentialist is one who has the spirit of discernment at work in his life.

The man who operates on partnership with the Spirit of discernment quickly realizes that everything is not equally important.

There are some opportunities God has not vetted with His presence.

There are some relationships that God hasn’t vetted with His Presence.

There are some places and gatherings that haven’t been vetted with His Presence.

Without the ability to discern, you’d jump headlong into anything and everything that gives the smallest indication of importance.

This is why it’s important to run every opportunity through the sieve of discernment within you.

When you invest time developing this ability, you’d find yourself freed from unnecessary commitments while spending that extra time on activities that matter.

“Less is better” is one of the biggest secrets that the gurus are keeping from you.

They bombard you with course after course after course. And while they spread you so thin with their often contradictory advice, you find them setting up systems that frees up more time for them to focus on what really matters to them.

You need to learn how to separate the “trivial many” from the “vital few”. Do this and your future ‘you’ will thank you for this

It’s All a Game of Trade-offs

“We can try to avoid the reality of trade-offs, but we cannot escape them”

One of the first things I learned in my Economics class at high school was the concept of Opportunity Costs.

Because your desires and wants will always exceed your available resources, you need to rank your desires in order of preference. And you do this because ultimately, you only expend your limited resources on wants and desires that you deem important, while forgoing the rest (i.e., the opportunity cost).

Therefore, your choice to buy the latest designer clothes and shoes may also be a choice not invest in books and renew your mind.

Your choice to mindlessly scroll through social media for hours on end may also be a choice not to spend bonding time with your significant other or children.

Your choice to snooze your alarm at 5:30 am, is also a choice not to get up earlier to complete your project (Yes, I’m talking about you!)

And sometimes too, the choice is not necessarily between an inherently good and bad option.

For instance, as an entrepreneur, do you sell plenty items for cheap, or do you sell few items for plenty? As a family man, do you spend more time with your spouse and kids, or do you bring work home and totally crush it at the office the next day?

When all is said and done, life is full of trade-offs. As Thomas Sowell said, “There are no solutions… Only trade-offs”

But the good news is that you will always get to choose what you’re going to go big on, and what you’ve got to give up. Choose wisely.

The Power of Focus

Greg McKeown also shared a quote from famous artist Pablo Picasso:

“Without great solitude, no serious work is possible”

In order to be an outstanding Essentialist, you need to learn how to discern the essential few from the trivial many.

Unfortunately, we live in a day and age where countless competing forces are vying for our attention.

As a result, unless we take deliberate effort to create the time and space to focus on what matters, it becomes impossible to become an Essentialist.

That’s why Greg McKeown goes on to say,

“In order to have focus we need to escape to focus”

The ability to focus is getting rarer by the day. And as with everything that’s rare, its value has also increased so much that Focus is regarded as the new IQ.

That’s why you need to create space for yourself to engage in high-level thinking.

You need space to deliberately and prayerfully design your life.

You need space to concentrate on actualizing the difficult steps you need to take before getting to your promised Land.

You need space to continually engage in the process of renewing your mind such that limits of what you consider possible are stretched by the day.

Sometime ago, I was listening to David Oyedepo and he said something to this effect:

“I’m not afraid of tomorrow because we’re not where we are today by chance”

And you know why he can make such a seemingly bold claim?

It’s simple. Among other things, David Oyedepo is an Essentialist!

Ask people who are in his close circle and listen to his anecdotes, you’d find that he doesn’t joke with his time or attention. He keeps the main thing, the main thing.

The same thing is possible for you.

Something More than Deliberate Practice

Greg McKeown also talked about Anders Ericsson’s famous experiment where he tried to find out the most important factor that determined expert-level mastery.

One of the findings from that study is what inspired the 10000-hour rule which Malcolm Gladwell popularized in his bestselling book “Outliers”

However, that was just one side of the story.

It turned out that the findings from Ericsson’s experiment showed another factor that contributed to expert-level mastery.

That factor was sleep!

Not only did the experts practice more than the merely good students, the Masters also slept about 2 hours more than the ordinary students.

While Non-Essentialists see sleep as another burden on their already over-extended to-do list, the Essentialist has a totally different approach.

He sees sleep as an ingredient necessary for functioning optimally during the day. As a result, Essentialists deliberately and systematically incorporates sleep into their schedules.

Greg McKeown said, “Our highest priority is to protect our ability to prioritize”

It might seem ridiculously simple, but quality sleep protects you in the long run.

From studies, as well as personal experience, I’ve noticed that when you’re sleep deprived, your decision-making capabilities are severely compromised. And when you’re in this state, one of the first things to jump out of the window is your ability to separate the vital few from the trivial many.

Ecclesiastes 10:10 says,

“If the iron be blunt, and he doth not whet the edge, then must he use more strength: but wisdom is profitable to direct”

Stop plowing through life without strategy. Sharpen your ax with quality sleep

What’s Your Why?

Greg McKeown shared this quote by Russian ballet dancer, Anna Pavlova,

“To follow, without halt, one aim: There is the secret to success”

In other words, ruthless focus on one goal will lead you to your desired Haven.

This is one thing that Essentialists are good at.

They learn how to ruthlessly eliminate every activity that is not in alignment with what they intend to achieve.

The truth is that in the absence of such clarity, confusion, stress and frustration is inevitable.

Do you find yourself constantly confused?

Do you see yourself always battling with stress at the end each working day?

Do you find yourself over your head with frustration?

If you find yourself in any of the aforementioned circumstances, there’s a good chance that you lack clarity about what you should really be doing.

Now, don’t get me wrong, there’s an element of difficulty in every assignment that is worthwhile. However, without clarity on why you are engaged in a task, you will not thrive.

And this why Essentialists continue to thrive in whatever field of endeavor they find themselves in. They don’t jump on the latest fad because that’s what’s trending. Rather, every action they take is powered by a strong why.

The Essentialist Intent

The Essentialist’s clarity is guided by what Greg McKeown calls the Essentialist intent – one inspirational, concrete, meaningful and measurable decision that becomes the yardstick determining other decisions.

In her role as Digital Champion for the UK in 2009, Martha Lane Fox‘s essential intent was to: Get everyone in the UK online by the end of 2012.

Because of this essential intent was simple, concrete, inspiring and measurable, it provided clarity for Martha Lane Fox and her team. With this clarity, they were able to focus on the essential few and eliminate the trivial many. And to a large extent, they attained their goal.

This is the kind of clarity that you see powering the lives of all the people you look up to. If you really want to thrive, you need to learn to focus all your energies on only activities that matter.

Yes, the journey will be hard. You will need to engage in tough conversations with yourself. There will be trade-offs. You will need to be disciplined to cut off competing priorities that try to distract you from your true intentions. But once you’re able to find that clarity, it’s inevitable that your path will lead to excellence

Notes from Howard Rachlin’s “Science of Self-Control” (2000)

Notes from Introduction

Humans have the ability to perceive a pattern of facts as a single, abstract entity. Self-control, therefore, simply involves allocating a pattern of behavior to the delivery of a later, larger reinforcer, as opposed to a sooner, smaller reinforcer. (p. 3)

The pattern of saving nuts emerges in the behavior of the squirrel from every instinctual instance where it has to hide nuts. In the same vein, the pattern of alcoholism emerges in the choice to drink at every instance the opportunity is presented. Just like the squirrel who doesn’t choose to be a saver; the alcoholic does not choose to be one (p. 4).

Notes from Chapter 1: Habit and Willpower

Teleological behaviorism (Rachlin’s paradigm) does not distinguish inner life from life. Rather, all of life is acted out as overt behavior. (p. 19). That said, I cannot agree that there is no difference between private and public events. The skin does make a difference!

Mental life is simply patterns of behavior extending into the past and the future (p. 19). Mental events are perceptible patterns of overt behavior just like a movement within a symphony or ballet (p. 19). Within some time range, interobserver agreement can be obtained for the history of an observable behavior. Future behavioral patterns may be predicted, but not perceived by external observers until it happens. If mental life comprises of private events extending into the past and the future, then it has a dimension not present in observable behavior – time in mental life is at least bidirectional. This sounds like LaMettrie’s materialist monism.

Notes from Chapter 2: Simple Ambivalence

None publicly posted.

Notes from Chapter 3: Complex Ambivalence

Simple ambivalence involves a choice between two clearly defined alternatives, while complex ambivalence involves a choice between one clearly defined alternative (usually the temptation, e.g., drinking or using drugs now) and a vaguely defined, abstract state (e.g., the state of wellbeing or sobriety) (p. 58)

In teleological behaviorism, the best predictor of future patterns of behavior is not through introspection, but in the observation of patterns of past behavior. (p. 66). Friends, relatives and other people in one’s social circle are the best mirrors for identifying patterns of past behavior. As a consequence, they are able to understand the behavioral context of an individual engaged in a particular activity. (p. 66). This is similar to my concept of Adullam Ring or cognitive science’s conception of cognition as embodied in the environment, social environment in this case. Outsight is better than Insight because extended patterns of behavior over time are no longer discrete and well-defined for the individual.

People prefer to be rewarded, rather than merely escape punishment. As a result, people are motivated to exchange negative reinforcement (e.g., continual drinking by the alcoholic) for positive reinforcement (e.g., engaged in non-drinking activities). This explains why alcoholics might want to quit after entering the alcoholism stable state. In this state, alcoholism becomes the abstract, temporally extended state, while “not drinking” becomes the discrete, well-defined event where positive reinforcement can occur. However, with time, the individual gets to the sobriety stable state where every instance of “not drinking” becomes negatively reinforcing, i.e., merely avoiding pain. As a result, the individual engages in the well-defined event of “drinking” where positive reinforcement can occur. Then the journey down the primrose path starts again. (p. 78-79)

Negative reinforcement: Removal of aversive stimulus to increase the emission of behavior. E.g., drug addict who takes drugs to drown out pain or loneliness.

Positive reinforcement: Presentation of stimulus (reinforcers) to increase the emission of behavior. E.g., engaged in social activities

Notes from Chapter 4: The Lonely Addict

Expected Utility Theory assumes that the consumer’s time horizon is infinite and the consequences of all choices in the present and future are considered before a choice is made. However, based on psychological realism, reinforcers and punishers are both discounted by time/delay (p. 82-83).

Consumption of addictive goods can have harmful effects on future consumption. In addition, consumption of addictive goods reduces the net utility of a fixed amount of that good. This necessitates the consumption of an increased amount of the good to attain the same level of utility (p. 85).

Tolerance is the negative effect of a person’s stock of an addictive substance on utility Stock = body and environment’s memories of consumption. Stock increases with consumption and decreases with time. If addictive and nonaddictive activities are seen as alternatives, increase in one activity will increase its stock and decrease the stock of the other activity (p. 85-87).

Negative effect of present consumption on future local utility is price habituation (p. 87).

Consumption of some activities, e.g., learning skills or social skills, increases future local utility (p. 87).

Positive effect of present consumption on future local utility is price sensitization (p. 88).

It appears that social interaction is price sensitized, i.e., the more it is performed, the cheaper it gets; the less it is performed, the more expensive it gets. (p. 100). Addictive behavior, e.g., smoking or alcohol consumption, is price habituated, i.e., the more it is performed, the more expensive it gets (you need more quantities to attain the same level of utility/satisfaction) (p. 101). Sometimes, an addictive activity becomes instrumental for obtaining social support, i.e., the individual drinks in order to reduce the cost of social support (p. 102).

Notes from Chapter 5: Soft Commitment

The initiation of a gestalt of behavior whose interruption is costly is also a commitment to its completion. This is called soft commitment because there is a way out. (p. 109). Credit card companies understand this with attaching penalties to when payments are defaulted.

Initial components of a gestalt of behavior patterns are not sunk costs, but rather, investment in the individual’s stock (Stock = body and environment’s memories of consumption [p. 85]). In other words, components of a gestalt of behavior are economic complements (p. 116). This is a good conceptualization introduced by Rachlin. Rather than limiting complements to different reinforcers that must be consumed together to obtain utility from them, Rachlin treats each allocation of behavior to the same reinforcers across time as complements.

In teleological behaviorism, there is no delineation between cognition and motivation. True knowledge is more than the repetition/verbalization of rules (as evidenced in the two experiments). To know a rule is to act in a way that is consistent with it (p. 125).

By committing to a behavioral pattern leading to a larger, later reward (LLR), the individual is reducing future options and potential variability of future behavior (p. 125). The pattern of behaviors that constitute self-monitoring introduces a wider temporal context. This overwhelms the discrete, narrow time associated with smaller, sooner reward (SSRs).

Experimental example with smokers asked to limit the variability in the number of cigarettes they smoked. By trying to reduce variability, the smokers reduced the amount of cigarettes they smoked. This is due to restructuring, where attention shifted from the few minutes smoking takes, to the larger behavioral context of self-monitoring for a week (p. 126-127).

Notes from Chapter 6: Rules and Probability

Desires are situational, i.e., cravings are not in the individual, but dependent on where the individual is. Discriminative stimulus is a situation or stimulus that signals the operation of a certain contingency of reinforcement (p. 130).

Just as organisms tend to prefer SSRs to LLRs, they also prefer small certain reinforcers to larger probabilistic ones. (p. 153). This is the essence of Prospect Theory’s subjective evaluation of value depending on their probabilities.

Notes from Chapter 7: Self-control and Social Cooperation

Social cooperation is to social defection what individual self-control is to individual impulsiveness (p. 168).

Cooperation is not dependent on either absolute probability or subjective probability. Rather, it is dependent on relative/conditional probability, i.e., what is the probability of others (or future “me”) cooperating, given that I cooperate. (p. 178 – 179).

For an individual struggling with addictive activities, a lifetime of relapse has reduced the probability of his current self cooperating with his future self. As a result, the future self defects too and will not be able to cooperate with the current self (p. 179).

A single person in successive moments in time, ranging from past to present, is like a person in a group of other people (Fig 7.7). The different persons have the same skin, thus, they have a common interest. Good habits and LLRs benefit the individual over time, even though there might be some sacrifice in the present (t = 0) (p. 187). Rachlin introduces this prisoner dilemma game ongoing between the person in the present time and the future time. Goal of self-control is to encourage cooperation between self in the present and self in the future.

In Richard Price’s novel, Clockers (1992), ghetto environments have short-term social interactions dominating long term ones. SSRs overwhelm LLRs and everyone’s self-concept is narrow in time; controlled by the clock, rather than the calendar.

Calling Evil Good

In his book, “Beyond good and evil”, German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said, “The great epochs of our lives come when we gain the courage to rechristen our evil as what is best in us”.

Now, I’ll admit that I’ve never read any of Nietzsche’s work in its entirety (and I’m not even sure I ever will). As a consequence, however, it is difficult for me to know exactly what that quote means outside its context.

On one hand, it could mean that people should be willing to reconstruct their moralities such that the traditional notions of “right” and “wrong” are rendered obsolete. The logical conclusion of this line of reasoning is the rejection of universal truth since, in the course of my reconstruction, what is “good” for me may not necessarily be “good” for you, and vice versa. Isaiah 5: 20 warns us of the dangers of towing this path:

“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

An alternative interpretation of Nietzsche’s quote which is more agreeable to my system of beliefs is the idea that that we should be open to changing or updating what we accept as “good” or “evil” in a given situation and time.

An example that comes to mind is from the Biblical story of Joseph’s reconciliation with his brothers who had sold him into slavery years before. In Genesis 50:20, Joseph’s conclusion from the whole ordeal is simple: “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” Joseph chose to interpret his terrible experiences as God’s good plan for him, his family and the nation. In other words, he called evil good.

What is a practical way this may work out in contemporary times?

Think about the person who is terrified of public speaking. He will physiologically and psychologically present the flight-or-fight response. This happens because the individual has lumped public speaking and other sources of fear in his life under the category called “Evil”. Real change happens when the person has the courage to label public speaking as “Good”. Done long enough, the person becomes comfortable speaking in public such that it appears to be second-nature.

Disclaimer: The “Notes/Ideas Lab” category on my website will contain ideas and thoughts that I have not fully developed. I may eventually get round to fleshing them out into a full essay. I also reserve the right not to do so…

Resolving Intra-Psychic Conflicts

Behavior-based Artificial Intelligence is a branch of AI which approaches intelligence from the standpoint of multiple, simple decision makers whose combined action leads to the expression of more complicated behavior. This approach to AI is modeled after a paradigm for considering the complexities of the human mind and behavior. At the most basic level of this worldview, the human mind appears to be made up of several intrapsychic subsystems. So, rather than seeing the individual as being moody and gloomy in one moment, impulsive and gluttony the next, calculative and rational the moment after that, the idea of the person is considered to be a bundle of all these different inclinations.

Intrapsychic subsystems are always in conflict because they are competing for the right to be expressed in behavior. This makes sense when one considers the fact that the different inclinations of the individual have goals which do not necessarily overlap. For instance, the goal of the moody and gloomy inclination might be to just lie in bed sulking, while the calculative and rational inclination has the goal of paying the bills – which won’t happen unless one goes to work.

The conflict between the different intrapsychic subsystems is over who will be in control of overt behavior and this conflict is resolved by bringing them under the control of a personality.

There are 4 different ways this may play out.

Winner Takes All: In this approach, the intrapsychic subsystems are simply left to the whims of time and chance. Eventually, one of the intrapsychic subsytems will emerge as the dominant personality that governs all expressed behavior. We all know of spoiled children who grew into lazy, miserable and unmotivated adults. A lifetime of indiscipline led them down the path of least resistance. For obvious reasons, this is the least desirable means of developing a personality.

Cultural Education: The conflict between intrapsychic subsystems is compounded by the potential for interpersonal conflict when people come together to live as a group. To resolve this, the incentives for pursuing group goals have to be stronger than those for pursing individual goals. That is, the goals of the group have to be compelling enough, such that the individuals who make up the group are willing to subject their warring subsystems to the dictates of the group. In other words, a personality is developed through culture norms. In fact, we say an individual is “cultured” to the extent to which he embodies cultural norms and expresses them in action. For the most part, harmony within the group can be maintained when personality is developed in this manner. Problems arise when in-group members come in contact with out-group members.

Mentors and Role Models: The personality that resolves intrapsychic conflict can be resolved by simply imitating one’s role model or mentor. When my baby brother was very little, he watched numerous episodes of Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman. At the end of each episode, he would tie a blanket round his neck and wear his underwear outside his trousers. He’d walk around the house confidently with his chest puffed out. My little brother had embodied the spirit of Superman and nothing was going to stop him. In those precious moments, his behavior as expressed in overt action was simplified by asking, “What would Superman do?” . The downside to this method is that we do not spend all our waking hours shadowing our models. As a consequence, the part of the mentor which we have access to and are trying model our lives after is only a small subset of what makes them who they are. We’ve all heard stories of people who lost respect for their role models when they got to see them up, close and personal. The mystique around their personality was gone and only the mundane was left.

The Holy Spirit: As a Christian, I’ve come to understand the Holy Spirit also gives believers a personality that resolves the conflict between the different intrapsychic subsystems. Life is complex, and no matter how many times you read through the Bible, you’re not going to get direct answers to personalized questions like whether you should marry Jane or Juliet, or whether you should relocate to a warmer climate or stay put in your current location. In fact, if you merely restrict yourself to the letters of the Bible, it could kill you (2 Corinthians 3:6). A truly rich and abundant life only comes when you partner with the Holy Spirit, develop the personality He endows upon you, and allow Him to unfold for you the unforced, rhythms of grace as you journey through life.

Samson: A Man of Faith?

In the popular Faith’s Hall of Fame found in Hebrews 11, Samson is a surprising entrant that seemed kind of out of place.

For years, I battled with the idea of this man being counted as one of the heroes of faith.

Seriously, it didn’t make any sense to my little church mind.

Religion had taught me that Samson was a moral and character failure that had the biceps, but not much of a brain.

But, I believe that Samson’s name wouldn’t have occurred in Hebrews 11’s Faith Hall of Fame, if he didn’t have a particular trait of faith that the Holy Spirit wanted to pass across to us.

However, I’ve found some interesting answers…

First of all, I don’t believe that Samson was a physically imposing figure.

But what of the movies and comics?

For once, forget the comics and movies depicting Samson as a muscular guy with bulging biceps and a 6-pack abs.

Astonishing, right? Stay with me…

You see, when it comes to describing the physical attributes of individuals, the Bible is quite explicit about it.

For example, Saul was a head and shoulder taller than all the Israelites of his day (1 Samuel 10:23); while Zacchaeus was extremely short (Luke 19:3); and 2 Samuel 23:20 refers to the two lionlike men of Moab. By the way, Vashti (Esther 1:11) and Rachel (Genesis 29:17) were very, very, very beautiful women.

My point is this: If Samson had been a muscular specimen of a man, the Bible would have mentioned it!

And since the Bible was silent about Samson’s physical attributes, it’s safe to say that he was a very ordinary-looking guy. The Bible was also silent about Jesus’ physical looks…but that’s a matter for another day.

Samson did not look like this!

It’s important that we understand this, because it’s key to our understanding how Samson could be an example of faith to us.

Judges 13 reports the story of the circumstances surrounding Samson’s birth. His parents had received the revelation from the angel of the Lord, and they were given specific instructions on how he should be brought up as a Nazarene because he’d be the deliverer of the nation of Israel.

Note that, Samson had not been born when the angel visited his parents with God’s Word about his life and destiny as a deliverer. Yet, Samson would walk in supernatural strength for one single reason.

His parents told him about God’s Word concerning his destiny!

Of course, his parents told him, what’s the big deal?

Well, Romans 10:17 tells us the implication of that truth,

‘So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God’

That is what made Samson a man of faith.

Samson had no physical sign that could indicate to him that he was going to be a great deliverer filled with supernatural strength. He had no angel appear to him, neither did he see a glory cloud or feel a goose bump…

All that Samson had was the Word from the angel of the Lord that his Mama had told him!

It was that Word that was manifested when Samson tore a lion like a baby goat (Judges 14:6).

That same Word caused Samson to tear out the gates of Gaza (Judges 16:3).

That same Word provided the wisdom that Samson used in catching 300 foxes, pairing them by their tails and putting a burning stick between the tails (Judges 15:4).

That Word came to Samson by hearing God’s Word about him, as his parents told him!

Samson was able to look at things that were not seen with the eyes of faith – created by the Word. He was able to call things that are not as though they were, because somehow, Samson got to know that he did not need to see large biceps and triceps, complete with well-developed pecs and 6-pack abs to match, before God could use him mightily.

Samson didn’t need any of this. His parents had told him that he would be the deliverer of Israel. Samson believed, and the Spirit of God could move him as He willed.

Friend, Samson may not have been an epitome of excellence when it came to moral matters. But, in terms of having a crazy faith in God’s Word concerning his life, very few can trump Samson’s attitude.

Has God spoken His Mind concerning your destiny? Emulate Samson – a man of faith!

Increasing Shannon’s Entropy in Relationships

Under normal circumstances, entropy signifies the amount of disorderliness in a system. For instance, a highly disorganized room can be said to be in a state of entropy.

In information theory, however, entropy is given a slightly different treatment. This form of entropy is called Shannon’s entropy and it deals with the amount of surprise that is embedded in a message. The higher the entropy, the more informative the message is.

Think about the last time you heard a baby babble. In this instance, the amount of information you can extract from the baby’s vocalizations is small. There’s really nothing inherently novel or interesting about hearing a baby say “baa-da, baa-da…” over and over again. The Shannon’s entropy of the baby’s message is low.

On the other hand, say, you’re listening to a subject matter expert talking about a topic you’re very interested in. In this case, the Shannon’s entropy of the speaker’s message is high. Why? Because the words encoding his message can open new frontiers in your mind once you are able to decode them!

Generalizing to interpersonal relationships today, many relationships have the Shannon’s entropy of a baby’s babble!

There are at least two heuristics for detecting an interpersonal relationship with a low Shannon’s entropy: (1) Recurring conflicts on the same issues, which could eventually lead to (2) Cold indifference, where one party is simply apathetic to the other.

So, how can you increase Shannon’s entropy in your interpersonal relationships?

First, listen to truly understand what the other person is saying. Merely mouthing ‘I understand you’ does not cut it. To understand the other person means embodying the spirit of empathy. That is, trying as much as possible to enter the same emotional and psychological space as the other party. Doing this will increase the amount of information you can extract from the other person’s message, thus increasing the Shannon’s entropy of the other party’s message to you. This may be crucial in taking your interpersonal relationships to the next level!

Second, understand that winning the person is sometimes more important than winning the argument. In a scientific study investigating the dynamics of social interactions among rats, a typically dominant rat engaging in playful rough and tumble with another rat will usually let the other rat win 30% of the time. That is, even stronger rats instinctively appreciate the idea that winning the individual is sometimes more important than winning the fight. You can imagine how much more the Shannon’s entropy in your interpersonal relationship will be increased if you took a hint from a rat!

Waste is Key

Waste is one key to unlocking exponential development in any sector or industry.

Until you can afford to waste a resource, you will not be able to break through the iron ceiling of potential.

I have 4 examples to prove my point:

The first is biological systems.

A tree produces tons of seed-containing fruits in the course of its life, even though, there are probably billions of seeds out there that will never get planted, not to talk of become trees. Yet, trees are in no danger of getting extinct anytime soon. Similarly, you only need one sperm cell and one ovum to make a baby. Millions of sperm cells are “wasted” in the process of conception, yet the world population is currently at 7 billion and counting.

My second example is from the food industry.

The American fast food industry only really took off after the country had figured out how to “afford” wasting farm produce. This happened through the mechanization of farm processes. The result? Increased efficiency in the use of land and exponential production of farm produce. At such levels of production, supply outweighs need, and when people are no longer hungry, innovation is never far away. Of course, one of such innovations turned out to be the fast food industry itself!

The third example is paper, which I won’t describe in detail here because I have written about this before. I’d say this, though: Once people could afford to waste paper, groundbreaking ideas could be disseminated far and wide.

The final example is data.

I remember seeing a picture of early computer innovators using a truck to move a 1 MB hard drive.

Yes, you read that right – one megabyte!

Data was expensive to produce, to store and to move around. Since so much effort went into it, no one was willing to waste it.

Fast forward to the present day where data is so ubiquitous and almost everyone spends their active waking hours literally wasting data without giving so much as a thought to it.

But think about how much the quality of our lives have improved because we can all waste data. Think about the software, web apps, and online marketplaces that were only possible after man could figure out how to afford to waste data.

There is a benefit that comes with being able to waste. It allows more room to experiment with different uses of a resource, and like in the archetypal Darwinian struggle, the fittest use(s) for that resource will thrive, while others go extinct. If you’re unable to waste, how can you even be sure that the current use of the resource is the optimal way to get the best out of it?

Innovation and technological development in any industry is constrained by its willingness and capability to waste.